Greek Baklava Recipe with Walnuts and Honey Syrup

Baklava belongs to the whole eastern Mediterranean and every country in it makes a version and claims the original. The Greek one is characterised by walnuts rather than pistachios, a heavy hand with cinnamon and clove, and a syrup built on honey rather than sugar alone.

It is not a difficult recipe. It is a patient one. The work is in the layering, and there is no way to speed that up. What can be got wrong, and frequently is, is the syrup, and there is exactly one rule that decides whether your baklava is crisp or soggy.

That rule is temperature contrast. One element hot, the other cold. Hot syrup on hot pastry steams the layers and you get a sweet wet slab. I use cold syrup on hot baklava, straight from the oven, and it hisses and crackles as it goes on.

Key preparation steps

1. Make the syrup first and chill it completely.
2. Layer phyllo and nuts, brushing every single sheet with butter.
3. Cut all the way through into diamonds before baking, not after.
4. Bake slowly until deep gold and crisp through.
5. Pour the cold syrup over the hot baklava and leave it for six hours.

Why must you cut baklava before baking?

Because baked phyllo shatters. Try to cut it afterwards and you will crush the layers you spent an hour building, and the top will splinter into crumbs.

Cut all the way to the base of the tin with a very sharp, thin knife before it goes in the oven. Diamonds are traditional: cut parallel lines lengthways, then cut diagonally across them. The cuts also let the syrup penetrate to the bottom, which is the whole reason the dessert works.

Some cooks push a whole clove into the centre of each diamond, which is traditional and perfumes the pastry as it bakes. Warn people, because biting into a clove is memorable for the wrong reasons.

Hot syrup on cold baklava, or cold syrup on hot?

Either works. What you cannot do is hot on hot. Both being hot means nothing is drawing the syrup in, the steam has nowhere to go, and it sits on the surface soaking the top layers into pulp.

The version I prefer is cold syrup onto hot baklava. Make the syrup first, cool it in the fridge while the baklava bakes, then pour it over the moment the tray comes out. The temperature difference pulls the syrup down through the cuts and the pastry keeps its crispness.

Pour slowly and evenly, working around the tin, and let it settle before adding more. It will look like far too much liquid. It is not, and it will all be absorbed within a couple of hours.

Walnuts, pistachios or almonds?

Walnuts are the Greek default and give the deepest, slightly bitter flavour that stands up to a very sweet syrup. Almonds appear in some regions and give a milder result. Pistachios are the Turkish and Levantine tradition, more expensive and more delicate.

A blend of walnuts and almonds, roughly two to one, is common in Greek homes and is arguably better than either alone. Whatever you use, chop by hand or pulse briefly. A food processor run continuously turns nuts into oily paste, and the filling needs texture.

Toast the nuts first. Five minutes in a dry pan makes a substantial difference and costs nothing.

How much butter, and clarified or not?

More than you expect. Every sheet gets brushed, without exception, and the tin gets a coating too. This is what separates the layers into leaves.

Clarifying the butter is worth the ten minutes. Melt it gently, let it settle, then pour off the clear golden fat and discard the milky solids at the bottom. Those solids burn during a long bake and give a slightly scorched taste. Clarified butter also crisps better because there is no water in it.

Greek bakers sometimes use a mixture of butter and a neutral oil for exactly this reason. Ghee works perfectly if you have it.

How long should baklava rest before serving?

At least six hours, and overnight is better. Freshly syruped baklava is unevenly wet in places and dry in others. Time lets the syrup distribute completely.

Cover it loosely with a tea towel, never cling film or an airtight lid, which traps steam and softens the top. Kept at room temperature under a cloth it stays crisp for a week, and it genuinely improves for the first two or three days.

Do not refrigerate it. The cold makes the butter in the pastry firm and waxy, and the texture goes dull.

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